CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer team earned a hard-fought draw in its home opener against New Mexico on Sunday afternoon, walking away with the 1-1 tie thanks to a late equalizing goal from freshman
MyJoi Anderson.
The Islanders (0-1-1) came into Sunday's match seeking to walk away with their first point of the year after dropping their 2025 opener on Thursday, but it was instead the Lobos (1-0-1) that looked strong out of the gates, with the visitors taking four shots and two corner kicks before the hosts could log their first try on the net. Despite the high energy from New Mexico early in what ended up being a physical start to things with 18 total fouls combined, A&M-Corpus Christi managed to hold firm for much of the first half, but a miscue in front of the net in the 41
st minute allowed the Lobos to put home the first goal of the day despite a strong effort from goalie
Hayven Harrison at keeping the score level going into the break.
Once the teams re-emerged from the locker rooms, the Islanders began to get things going in their direction, starting with their first real scoring opportunity at the 63-minute mark when senior
Mai-Lisa Atis received a pass in the box from redshirt senior
Madison Page and fired a shot at the net that was blocked by a Lobos defender, giving them their first corner kick of the day. Two more unsuccessful corners would come in quick succession not long after this, and to cap off the string of chances, Atis made a run on a well-placed free kick from junior
Dakota Merino in the 74
th minute but was ruled offsides by the referee on the sidelines.
These opportunities seemed to provide the Islanders with a much-needed jolt of energy, and they finally managed to break through on another one with just five minutes left on the clock. After a foul gave A&M-Corpus Christi a free kick on the far side of the field, Merino lifted the ball into the box, where it would touch both Page and freshman
Sophia Dias before finding its way to Anderson, who put home the equalizer right past the Lobos' keeper to level the score up at one apiece. New Mexico got one last opportunity to take the lead a few minutes later, but a save by Harrison with just seconds left on the clock brought the Islanders to their first positive decision of the year.
"I think we hosted a really strong opponent that definitely made us uncomfortable a lot of the game, but I know we also put them under some pressure as well at times," said head coach
Daniel Clitnovici. "We've worked really hard in the last week to tighten up defensively and not give goals away, so overall, we're super happy with the resilience. It's a good tie for us. The team deserved something out of that game."
The Islanders ended up being outshot 17-5 on the day, but they were able to overcome this thanks to their improved discipline in the second half, as they committed just seven fouls in the final 45 minutes after logging 11 on that end before the break. They also managed to draw 14 fouls of their own in the second half, including the one that led to the equalizing goal.
Individually, Anderson gave the lift to A&M-Corpus Christi, as the freshman took advantage of her first-ever start and put together the play of the day in just her second collegiate game. The assists on Anderson's goal went to both Dias and Page, with the former tallying her second in as many games to start her career and the latter getting on the scoresheet for the first time with the Islanders. The points from Sunday all came from newcomers to the team's roster this year, making it two straight games where that was the case after Dias assisted on sophomore
Vivianna Sykes' score on Thursday.
"We're definitely happy for MyJoi's goal, and hopefully it's one of many," Clitnovici said about Anderson. "She's got a great attitude, and she treats every practice like it's game day, which is super important. She deserved that. She's definitely in a position where she's only going to get better. We have a young team this year with MyJoi being one of them, and they're all really contributing."
The Islanders will now try to build upon this result and look to pick up their first win in a pair of home games during the coming week, the first of which comes on Thursday at 7 p.m. against in-state foe Texas Southern.
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